No pre-arrest bail to man accused of making deepfake video of Amitabh Bachchan

Representation Pic

A court here on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail application of an Uttrakhand-based man accused of uploading obscene deepfake videos of actor Amitabh Bachchan on social media. The pre-arrest bail plea of Abhijit Patil, who runs an Ayurveda medicine firm at Rishikesh, was rejected by sessions judge V M Pathade. The detailed order was not available yet.

The accused allegedly created and posted on social media obscene deepfake videos of Bachchan to promote products related to sexual health. After a case was registered here against him, Patil filed an anticipatory bail application. The allegations against him were "baseless, false, and fabricated" and he had not committed any offence, he said.

Police opposed his plea, saying that cybercriminals tend to think that even if they steal the identity of celebrities and actors and make fake obscene videos, they will easily get bail. This was emboldening them, the prosecution told the court. The investigation will be hampered if the accused got protection from arrest, said special public prosecutor Iqbal Solkar.

The obscene videos have damaged Bachchan's image worldwide, the prosecution claimed. The judge then dismissed Patil's plea. Bachchan's legal team had on May 4 filed a complaint with Mumbai cyber police after coming across several deepfake videos which showed him promoting the products of Patil's company using obscene language.

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